Rebirth 15: I Picked Up a Pure and Innocent Streamer Girlfriend

Chapter 127 Early Return Chapter

Lin Ran said from the side, "Auntie, stop piling food on your plate. Su Peixue's bowl is practically overflowing with food from your piling." Lin Yuehua replied, "Nephew, don't worry about it. I'm piling food on Xuexue's plate, not yours."

Grandpa Lin picked up his glass and said, "This year's Spring Festival is different. In previous years, there were quite a few people in the family for the Spring Festival, but this year there is one more person."

He looked at Su Peixue and said, "This is your first time celebrating the New Year at our house, my eldest granddaughter-in-law. You should come every year from now on. This is your home."

Su Peixue gently swirled the glass in her hand and finished the orange juice. Xu Wanru then placed a piece of braised pork in her bowl.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, the family gathered around the brazier to stay up all night. The brazier was filled with pine charcoal, and the scent of pine mixed with the heat of the charcoal made the whole room warm and cozy.

The TV was on, showing a skit. Lin Yuefeng kept yawning while watching it, while Old Master Lin shook his head and asked what it was.

Su Peixue sat down next to Lin Ran, reached out her hand, and hooked her little finger around Lin Ran's in the shadow of the brazier.

Lin Ran didn't say anything, but took her hand completely in his. Grandpa Lin was still complaining about the Spring Festival Gala, Xu Wanru was talking to Grandma Lin about the housing prices in the county, and Lin Yuehua was scrolling through her phone. No one noticed that the two people across the brazier were clenching their hands tighter and tighter in the shadows.

Around midnight, Grandpa Lin announced that it was time to set off fireworks. Lin Ran took a bunch of fireworks out of the trunk, including sky rockets, fountain fireworks, and a few sparklers.

He moved the largest firework shell to the open space at the gate of the courtyard, and Old Master Lin lit the fuse himself.

The fuse hissed for a few seconds, then with a muffled thud, a burst of fire shot into the sky, exploding in mid-air, scattering golden-red sparks in all directions. Su Peixue tilted her head back, the flickering light of the fireworks reflecting on her face, her eyes bright, and the corners of her mouth slightly upturned.

Lin Ran handed her a sparkler, lit it with a lighter, and with a hiss, golden sparks shot out from the tip of the sparkler, crackling and popping in the air.

She drew a crooked cat face in the air with her sparkler, and a spark trailed a crooked tail. She said, "This is you." Lin Ran said, "This is a cat." She said, "It is a cat, the zookeeper's cat."

The persimmon grove at the village entrance was extremely quiet on New Year's Eve. The persimmon cakes I photographed last winter were still hanging on the drying rack, but now they've all been harvested. The branches were bare, with only the light from the village streetlights casting crisscrossing shadows on the ground through the branches.

Su Peixue pulled Lin Ran into the persimmon grove, the fallen leaves crunching under their feet. She stopped under the old persimmon tree that had been featured in the video, looking up at the bare branches.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that by this time next year, the persimmons will have grown again."

It grows every year.

"Then it can be filmed every year."

"Um."

The sound of firecrackers from the distant village was still ringing out, one after another, crackling and popping. Su Peixue turned around, stood on tiptoe, and pecked Lin Ran on the cheek.

It felt cool and light, like a persimmon leaf that was blown by the wind, touched briefly, and then flew away.

On the way back to the courtyard from the persimmon grove, we ran into a few villagers who had just come from visiting their neighbors. One of the young women recognized Su Peixue, took her companion's hand and whispered something, then the two of them walked over together, a little shyly asking if they could take a picture together.

Su Peixue nodded, and the two girls cheered. They stood on either side of her and took several pictures with their phones held high.

After filming, they thanked Xuexue and said that the whole village had watched her persimmon cake video many times. After they walked away, Su Peixue looked down at her phone and saw that she had gained tens of thousands more followers.

Lin Ran said that you can be recognized wherever you go now. Su Peixue said that I can be recognized even when I wear a mask. Lin Ran said that from now on, I'll have to make sure you wear a mask when you go out.

In the courtyard, Grandpa Lin lit another string of firecrackers, which scattered red paper scraps all over the yard.

Su Peixue stood on the threshold, looking at the red paper scraps scattered on the ground and the firework ash filling the sky, and pulled her down jacket tighter around herself. This was her first real New Year. In the past, she would spend the New Year alone, cook a pot of instant noodles and two boiled eggs, listen to the firecrackers outside the window, eat, and then go to sleep.

Now there's a table full of people, a hand held in the shadows, a magic wand that can draw cat faces in the air, and a grove of persimmons that will be ripe next year.

The more lively the place, the more she missed her mother.

Lin Ran came out of the house and handed her a cup of hot tea. She took it and held it in her hands, the steam rising onto her face. She said the New Year felt so slow. Lin Ran replied that it wasn't slow, it felt like it lasted forever.

The years used to be empty, passing by in the blink of an eye; this year is full, every minute memorable. Su Peixue took a sip of hot tea and hummed in agreement. Fireworks rose again in the distance, exploding in the sky above the persimmon grove, their golden-red light reflecting on the two people's faces, flashing brightly and dimly.

A few days after the New Year, Lin Ran started loading things into the trunk. Xu Wanru stood by the car, watching him stuff his laptop, camera equipment, cured meat and braised duck he brought from home into the trunk one by one, muttering that he had only been home for a few days before leaving.

Lin Ran closed the trunk and said that leaving before the Lantern Festival was indeed a bit early. Xu Wanru said, "You know it's early, why are you leaving?" Lin Ran said that there was a courtyard near the school that he needed to rent, and the site needed to be ready before spring, otherwise they wouldn't be able to film anything in the spring.

Xu Wanru sighed, turned to look at Su Peixue standing next to her, took her hand and said, "Xuexue, keep an eye on him, don't let him stare at the computer all day and not eat."

Su Peixue nodded and said, "I understand, Auntie."

Lin Yuefeng came out of the garage, carrying a bag of oranges, and handed it to him through the car window, saying he would eat it on the way.

He stood next to Xu Wanru, watching Lin Ran start the car, watching Su Peixue fasten her seatbelt in the passenger seat, and watching the taillights turn out of the community gate and disappear around the street corner.

Xu Wanru's eyes were a little red. She said that the brat only came back once every six months and left before they could even warm up to each other.

Lin Yuefeng patted her on the shoulder and said that Xiaoran was no longer a child. Xu Wanru said, "I know, I just feel that time flies by too fast. In the blink of an eye, he can drive on the highway by himself. When he graduates from university, we will be grandparents."

Lin Yuefeng paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "That's true. Having a baby early is good; we still have the energy to help take care of it. We don't have to worry about Xuexue's child either; we can save on our dowry for a wife."

Xu Wanru said that too many girls don't know how to do math; nowadays, most are only children, and in the end, their parents' wealth will all belong to them. Lin Yuefeng said you're overthinking it; that's normal marriage, and many couples just want to make a quick buck and then get divorced.

Xu Wanru said that our son will never encounter such a thing. I like Xuexue. She is beautiful, has good genes, and her children will be beautiful too, just like me. Lin Ran is so handsome because of me.